Delaware County NY Genealogy and History Site

This is an incident that has stuck with me vividly over the years. I guess after 70 some years it can be considered history.

My father was a wanderer and moved our family many times during my youth and one place he moved us was to the village of Deposit, NY when I was 6 or 7 years old about 1942.

Deposit was sort of a "Home" place for him although he was born and raised on Horton Brook, NY and his ancestors were from the Shew Hollow area, His mother and sister lived in Deposit and I guess he felt that this was the place for us. He worked and lived on the Rome Airforce Base during the war and was seldom home.

We lived in several places within the Village including one 3 story house on Pine Street that had been owned by a banker. I remember well the safe that was built into the house and also the cupola on the roof that we kids would look out of.

At one point we were moved to an upstairs apartment on Front Street and this is where my story takes place. Many of the buildings in the business district shared a common wall but the building we lived had a small space between the outside wall and the building next to it. Now this space was not wide enough for an adult to squeeze into but small boys fit well. Remember this was during the 2nd World War.

Not mentioning any names as I do not want to embarrass anyone. The building had aa store downstairs and I guess the owner lived upstairs over the shop. But one day boys being boys we squeezed ourselves between these two building.

About half way down this opening there was a window in the one building facing a blank wall and of course we just had to see what was in there. What I saw is as vivid 70 some years later as it was then.

The room was set up as a meeting room with chairs and a dais covered with a Nazi German Flag and on the wall behind was a large picture of Adolph Hitler. We of course hurried ourselves out of there being certain that we were about to be attacked by “Nazis”. I for one never told anyone about this incident. I don’t know why I did not as I have a “big mouth”.

I know from studying history that many, many towns and cities in the US had their German Bunds; most never causing any problems to anyone, but I always thought it interesting that even "little ol Deposit" might have had its Nazi adherents.